A super boring SaaS with $9,747 in monthly recurring revenue - Startups.email

Discover Profitable SaaS Ideas: Learn how to find and develop simple and successful SaaS ideas using a 4-step framework. Plus, get inspired by a real-life example of a micro SaaS generating $9,474 MRR

📗 Story of the Week

Welcome to this week's newsletter issue, where I describe profitable SaaS ideas, what makes an idea good, and how to find them. This week, one of my tweets went viral, garnering over 100k views and 600+ likes. In it, I described a simple SaaS Bank Statement Converter that converts PDF bank statements into xls, csv files. It was launched in May 2021 and now, with approximately 1,000 daily visits mostly from SEO, it generates around $9,474 in monthly recurring revenue.

This is a perfect example of a micro SaaS business:

✅ Huge market; everyone has a bank account; everyone of us can be a customer

✅ The problem can be solved with a simple technology stack (npm package)

✅ The problem can be described as a keyword (bank statement converter pdf to excel)

✅ Keyword domain → bankstatementconverter.com

But how can you come up with a nice and simple idea? I suggest using a simple framework that consists of 4 steps:

Step 1: Identify Problems and Pain Points: Look for areas where existing solutions are either expensive, complicated, or inefficient. You can use Quora, Reddit, Twitter. Here is an example on Reddit: "Need ideas for converting bank statement pdf to excel sheet showing transactions in Adobe DC."

Step 2: Assess Market Size and Demand: Once you have identified a problem, assess the market size and demand for a solution. Look for indicators that suggest a significant number of potential customers would be interested in your SaaS offering. The market should be larger than 500k potential users. ⚠️

Step 3: Evaluate Feasibility and Differentiation: Consider the technical requirements and resources needed to develop and maintain the solution. Assess whether your idea can be implemented using a simple technology stack. Preferably, a simple npm package or a pip pythong package or some no-code solutions.

Step 4: Can be Built and Tested Within 4 Weeks: Innovation comes from constraints. To build something simple, you need to set constraints. I believe 4 weeks are enough to build an MVP. After 4 weeks, you can see if your idea has traction or not. If not, move on to your next idea (for SEO expect 3 months to see some traction). Don't cling to the idea as if your survival depends on it.

One thing to understand is that becoming a successful founder is purely a numbers game. Take Pieter Levels for example, he built 70 different apps until a few of them achieved overnight success. Here's another example from Picasso; he was relentlessly producing a vast amount of work.

Credit goes to Minh-Phuc Tran

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📈 Another way to find a profitable SaaS idea is to monitor market trends. I suggest you sign up for the Growth Blueprint newsletter, where you will receive weekly tech trends, market data, and investing strategies, such as how to buy a profitable SaaS.

🤖 In the last few months, I have sold two micro SaaS businesses which were built on top of the OpenAI API. Recently, we have seen Chatbase grow from $0 to $150k MRR in only six months. Right now is the best time to stay ahead of the AI trends and build something on top of AI. To stay up to date with all the AI trends, I recommend you subscribe to FryAI's newsletter.

🗞️ Actually, I started this newsletter because I wanted to know if I could make money as a creator and not as a developer. Now, 4 months later, I have over 1,200 subscribers to startups.email and more than 4,000 followers on Twitter. I have actually learned a lot from Kieran on Twitter. Kieran also has a superb newsletter where he helps people become creators and scale their businesses.

📈 New Revenue Statistics

• BankStatementConverter: The world's most trusted bank statement converter, founded in April 2021 and generating $9,747/Month of MRR, provides an easy way to convert PDF bank statements into a clean Excel format.

• Instatus: Instatus, launched in October 2014 and generating $15,000/Month of MRR, gives you a beautiful status page in 10 seconds without expensive costs.

• PenParrot: PenParrot, founded in June 2023 and generating $2,011/Month of MRR, brings AI everywhere you go by allowing you to write mails, posts, tweets, articles and more.

• VCSandbox: VCSandbox, launched in July 2023 and generating $945/Month of TTM USD, provides the best hacks for startup founders with a fundraising roadmap, 10+ guides, 50+ templates, and a list of 30,000+ investors.

• Simple Analytics: Simple Analytics, founded in December 2018 and generating $20,167/Month of MRR, serves as a privacy-first Google Analytics alternative.

• Prosmartrepreneur: Prosmartrepreneur, launched in October 2017 and generating $12,373/Monthly Revenue, provides online businesses to make money from home.

• Gladys Assistant: Gladys Assistant, founded in December 2018 and generating $673/Month of MRR, is a privacy-first, open-source home assistant.

• BrowserBear: BrowserBear, launched in April 2018 and generating $1,000/Month of MRR, is a nocode task builder that helps you get the data you need to run your business without coding.

• Trimbox: Trimbox, founded in November 2020 and generating $58,669/Month of MRR, simplifies cleaning your inbox with 1 click.

• Less Annoying CRM: Less Annoying CRM, launched in September 2009 and generating $301,997/Month of MRR, offers 3 features no other CRM can.

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